Buying my first turnkey property sometime in the next two months

[Barclay Chan]

Hi all,

I currently have a house and a rental in the San Francisco Bay Area. I want to start building a portfolio with a bunch of passive income rentals and I know I have to start looking out of state if I want positive cash flow.

I narrowed it down to three markets and was was wondering which one you guys think is best and why? Dallas TX, Cleveland OH and Tampa Bay FL, more specifically Pasco county. I am leaning more towards Pasco county just because the houses aren't as old as Cleveland and taxes aren't as expensive as Texas. Seems like it can get me over a 10% return with 20% down, not too sure how the appreciation will be since it is the outskirts of Tampa Bay. I am also looking at ranges between $80,000-160,000. 

[Account Closed]

There are still a lot of houses up for grabs and more everyday in Pasco .. one thing to consider seeing how you are looking into buy and holds is .. are the tenant landlord laws about the same in every area you are interested in ? As for appreciation . Tampa and surrounding cities  are still on the rise .. in Tampa they have risen pretty quickly to almost back to pre ballon bust values .. but for cities like Inverness, Fl which is about 1 hr north .. the prices are relatively low still and there are penty of houses that can be bought under value .. if your willing to rehab them a bit .. just the other day I looked at a 3-4 bedroom 1550 sqft with a cagged in Pool for $45k .. it needed about $25k for a rental and $35k for a flip .. I only flip homes right now .. the arv is about $130-135k for a flip and rents should be around $1200 mth .. maybe more ( like i said i only flip them right now ) I am going to make a offer monday on it I hope .. I can see rehab taking less than 6 weeks .. and this market is hot for selling so .. maybe 30-60 days on market .. not a bad Roi if the numbers are right .. but, if you looked at it as a buy and hold,  it would still make sense  .. i think the real key to investing out of state is having someone whom you trust watching out for your best interests .. like I do with any of my partners money.. also try not to limit yourself to just one area .. you might miss a deal of a lifetime if your to focused on one area only .. just my two cents  

I wish you the very best 

God Speed, 

Michael Short